Question: What is the ratio of the area of the shaded square to the area of the large square? (The figure is drawn to scale.) [asy]
/* AMC8 1998 #13P */
size(1inch,1inch);
pair r1c1=(0,0), r1c2=(10,0), r1c3=(20,0), r1c4=(30, 0), r1c5=(40, 0);
pair r2c1=(0,10), r2c2=(10,10), r2c3=(20,10), r2c4=(30, 10), r2c5=(40, 10);
pair r3c1=(0,20), r3c2=(10,20), r3c3=(20,20), r3c4=(30, 20), r3c5=(40, 20);
pair r4c1=(0,30), r4c2=(10,30), r4c3=(20,30), r4c4=(30, 30), r4c5=(40, 30);
pair r5c1=(0,40), r5c2=(10,40), r5c3=(20,40), r5c4=(30, 40), r5c5=(40, 40);
draw(r1c1--r5c1--r5c5--r1c5--r1c1--r5c5);
draw(r5c1--r3c3);
draw(r4c4--r2c4--r3c5);
fill(r2c2--r3c3--r2c4--r1c3--cycle);
[/asy]
Solution: Divide the square into $16$ smaller squares as shown. The shaded square is formed from $4$ half-squares, so its area is $2.$ The ratio $2$ to $16$ is $\boxed{\frac{1}{8}}.$

Note: There are several other ways to divide the region to show this. [asy]
/* AMC8 1998 #13S */
size(1inch,1inch);
pair r1c1=(0,0), r1c2=(10,0), r1c3=(20,0), r1c4=(30, 0), r1c5=(40, 0);
pair r2c1=(0,10), r2c2=(10,10), r2c3=(20,10), r2c4=(30, 10), r2c5=(40, 10);
pair r3c1=(0,20), r3c2=(10,20), r3c3=(20,20), r3c4=(30, 20), r3c5=(40, 20);
pair r4c1=(0,30), r4c2=(10,30), r4c3=(20,30), r4c4=(30, 30), r4c5=(40, 30);
pair r5c1=(0,40), r5c2=(10,40), r5c3=(20,40), r5c4=(30, 40), r5c5=(40, 40);
draw(r1c1--r5c1--r5c5--r1c5--r1c1--r5c5);
draw(r5c1--r3c3);
draw(r4c4--r2c4--r3c5);
fill(r2c2--r3c3--r2c4--r1c3--cycle);
draw(r2c1--r2c5);
draw(r3c1--r3c5);
draw(r4c1--r4c5);
draw(r1c2--r5c2);
draw(r1c3--r5c3);
draw(r1c4--r5c4);
[/asy]